Functional results. These included the number of devices at discharge, the Glasgow Outcome Scale (GOS) score, the Barthel Index score and any change in quality of life, assessed using the classification system based on the Health Utilities Index Mark 2 Survival. The patient's death related to the event index was considered as a hard event. In the survival analysis the two management models were considered as predictors of mortality. These predictors were adjusted for confounding variables (age, sex, aetiology, GOS score, Level of Cognitive Functioning score and indices of organ function). The association between independent predictors and outcome was assessed by comparing the follow-up data with a Cox proportional hazards regression model. The end-point of the study was event-related mortality. The distribution of the time function of the events was analysed with the Kaplan-Meier method